Half of the homes in the US have mold. Some forms of mold produce dangerous toxins. Even those that don’t can be hazardous to your health if you are allergic to them.

If you have mold in your home, you need to learn how to kill mold, fast. It’s especially urgent if you’ve experienced mold related health problems. Read on to learn how to get it out of your home and keep it out.

Toxins, Myotoxins, and How They Can Affect You

According to the EPA, there is technically no such thing as toxic mold. In and of itself, mold isn’t toxic. However, mold does release toxins and mycotoxins into the air. These can be highly toxic and allergenic.

The distinction isn’t very important to people who suffer from mold allergies. Regardless of how the mold causes you problems, the important thing is to get rid of it so you can live healthy again.

The toxins that come from mold cause a number of health problems. Research shows that over 90% of chronic sinusitis cases are related to mold. In addition, mold can cause serious health complications, such as:

Pulmonary fibrosis

Lung infections

Shortness of breath

Chronic coughing and congestion

Recurring headaches

Depression

Many types of “black mold” are amongst the most hazardous to your health. If black mold is in your home, clean it up or seek help from a professional black mold remediation company right away.

Safety First

If you have mold allergies, other breathing problems, or a compromised immune system, call in professionals to handle black mold remediation. It’s not worth saving the cost of mold removal if your health will be negatively affected.

If you choose to handle black mold remediation yourself, make sure to wear protective equipment. At a bare minimum, this should include:

Safety glasses

Elbow length rubber gloves

Protective mask

Clothing which can be discarded or washed immediately

Fix the Problem, Then the Symptoms

Removing mold is futile if you don’t remove the factors that caused it first. Mold can grow on nearly any household surface, but there are two things it needs to grow: stagnant air and moisture. Eliminate those two factors, and mold will not grow.

There’s no way to completely remove moisture from your home. What you can do is eliminate the excess. Fix any leaks in your roof or plumbing immediately. Check for other ways moisture may be entering your home. Caulk windows, sinks, and shower stalls.

In areas where you can’t avoid some moisture (bathrooms, pool rooms, laundry rooms, etc.), increasing the flow of air can help control the growth of mold. Using a properly ventilated exhaust fan in the bathroom goes a long way towards keeping mold at bay. Increase your use of ceiling and box fans throughout the rest of your home.

Increasing air flow helps airborne mold spores from settling onto host surfaces and spreading. A single mold spore, if allowed to settle on a moist surface, can reproduce billions of mold spores in just one day.

Removing Mold from Your Home

Surface mold can be cleaned with bleach (for nonporous surfaces) or Borax (for porous ones) Mix with water and scrub. After cleaning, rinse thoroughly and let the area dry completely. Repeat the process as often as needed to remove mold from your home.

If you are facing a large black mold remediation job (larger than 10 sq.’ or requiring you to tear out significant amounts of drywall, consider calling in a black mold remediation expert. The cost of mold removal is a small price to pay for knowing the job is done right the first time.

Mold may not truly be toxic, but it does produce toxins. These cause health problems for you while destroying surfaces in your home. Whether you do it yourself or trust black mold remediation to an expert who knows how to kill mold, get rid of black mold as soon as possible.